Dutch · 1918–2006
Rudolf Ritsema (1918-2006) was a Dutch scholar and translator of the I Ching. He directed the Eranos Centre for East West Studies, which grew out of the Eranos Foundation in Switzerland, the circle of scholars that Carl Jung helped make known. Ritsema spent decades working on the Chinese Book of Changes and led the Eranos project to produce a new translation. With Shantena Augusto Sabbadini he published the Eranos edition, which keeps close to the literal sense of the Chinese text and its images instead of smoothing them into modern advice. The book appeared in English as the I Ching, and in some editions under the title The Original I Ching Oracle. It is used by readers who want to consult the oracle and by those who study the text itself. Ritsema is respected among specialists in comparative and Jungian-influenced scholarship, though he is little known to general readers. His work links Chinese divination to Western psychology.